Decreased expression of retinoid receptors in melanoma: entailment in tumorigenesis and prognosis.
Clin Cancer Res
; 13(16): 4817-24, 2007 Aug 15.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17699860
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
Retinoids inhibit proliferation and induce differentiation in melanoma cells. Retinoic acid receptors (RAR) and retinoid X receptors (RXR) mediate the various modulatory effects of retinoids in cells. We have studied the in situ expression of each RAR and RXR protein (alpha, beta, gamma) in a large series of melanocytic lesions and correlated the expression with clinicopathologic features and prognosis of the patients. EXPERIMENTALDESIGN:
Tissue microarray blocks of 226 melanocytic lesions were semiquantitatively evaluated by immunohistochemistry for the cytoplasmic and nuclear expression of RAR and RXR protein (alpha, beta, gamma).RESULTS:
A significant decrease of RARbeta protein (P < 0.0001), nuclear expression of RARgamma (P < 0.0001), and RXRalpha (P < 0.0001) was found in primary and metastatic melanomas as compared with nevi. Loss of nuclear immunoreactivity for RARgamma (P = 0.048) and RXRalpha (P = 0.001) was observed in the lesions showing vertical growth pattern. In addition, in patients with concomitant loss of cytoplasmic staining for RARalpha and RXRalpha, the probability of overall survival (log-rank test, P = 0.002) and disease-specific survival (log-rank test, P = 0.014) was significantly lower.CONCLUSIONS:
Aberrant expression of retinoid receptors seems to be a frequent event in melanoma and suggests an impairment of the retinoid pathway in this cancer. Our data indicate the loss of retinoid receptor expression with melanoma progression and suggest a possible prognostic significance of the analysis of retinoid receptors in melanoma.
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Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Receptors, Retinoic Acid
/
Retinoid X Receptor alpha
/
Melanoma
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Year:
2007
Type:
Article